A Sweet Tooth and Some Fireworks – Magic Wishes Dessert Party

Magic Wishes Dessert Party When Dan forwarded the information about the New Magic Wishes Dessert Party (from The Disney Food Blog) to me, I knew it would be the perfect ending to the Vegetarian Offspring’s birthday in the Magic Kingdom. The announcement said that it was a temporary program which allowed you to view the Magic Wishes fireworks show while enjoying an all-you-can-eat dessert bar. You prepay for the event and it is not really cheap. Adults are $17.99 and kids $9.99. But, unlike some of our Disney dining experiences, I feel like we got every penny’s worth. We arrived at the Tomorrowland Terrace after a long hot day in the crowded park. As the masses crammed together at the foot of the castle, we happily settled in to our comfy spot at a bistro table with the beautiful castle in the distance.

I can’t tell you about our dessert meal, however, without mentioning the up close and personal view of another sort of fireworks display. We were preparing to dig in to our yummy collections from our first trip to the dessert bar when suddenly, the dad from the family at the table next to us came rushing over and started yelling at a young woman who had just planted herself at HIS table. “OH NO!” he shouted “THAT’S OUR TABLE!!!!” and threw down his plate of brownies and cookies onto the table ready for a fight. She immediately reacted in like form screaming that the hostess had seated her there and pointing at the poor Cast Member who looked very nervous. There were about 10 extremely tense and uncomfortable moments involving cursing and yelling from both of them, and some pleading and insisting from Cast Members.

People around us gave up trying not to stare. I had my back to the action and was sure I was going to get an elbow in the head or something because a throw down seemed eminent. I was so embarrassed for the man’s children. They looked like they wanted to dive in to the water below the terrace. And just when you thought it was over, they would get it started up again. Anyway, in retrospect, we decided that the young woman truly had moved the man’s table place card and taken over his table while he and his family were getting some desserts. Then, she threw a big fit and pointed at the cast member and made it look like he was attacking her for no reason. My, oh my. Throughout the evening, she kept coming back to apologize to the man. Once, she brought him a plate of food from the dessert bar as a peace offering. I couldn’t stop myself from leaning over and saying, “yeah, I’ll bet there is some spit on that….” to which he replied (with my favorite quote of the vacation) “I mean it! I’m telling you. I don’t know her from a can of paint! And she’s going to try to bring me a plate of food after we just finished fighting? How stupid do I look?”

Anyway- back to the goodies. When we arrived, our table was covered with little golden Cinderella’s Castle confetti (which, by the way, the young woman gathered up while we were at the buffet and we know this because after the fight, she sheepishly handed the man and his family the ones she’d gathered up from his table) and a swirly star golden centerpiece. There was also our little welcome name card with fireworks. As it turned out, all that fighting they had done was pointless because when we asked whether we were to remain in our seats during the fireworks, a cast member tipped us off that we would be allowed to go over to the balcony area. We got a really great spot by going a few minutes early while everyone else gorged on the fabulous desserts.

The dessert bar was truly a sight to behold. There was every kind of yummy confection you can imagine. From cheesecakes to cookies to mango shooters to rice krispy treats to chocolate dipped strawberries. My favorites were the kiwi lime mini tarts and the chocolate truffles. It was also refreshing to have some ice cold water, but I could have had lemonade or tea instead and after we’d cooled down, I did help myself to some coffee. And, there were plenty of desserts for everyone to have what they wanted. Sometimes at the breakfast bars, we’ve seen trays empty and not be refilled, but we stayed for awhile after the fireworks, just enjoying the evening, and the dessert bar stayed fresh the whole time.

The fireworks show was beautiful from the terrace and we loved watching the reflection in the water too. Another bonus was a dedicated Photopass photographer who was stationed with a tripod to catch pictures of families with the castle lit up in the background. As someone who takes advantage of the pre-purchase Photopass CD, I appreciated that.

The highlight of the evening was happening just at the tail end of the bar fight that I discussed earlier. Little Miss Plans Ahead (that’s me) brought along a number 5 birthday candle and matches and when I asked the Cast Member if it was OK to light it, she said in a magical fashion, “OH yes! That’s a great idea!!! Do you want some singers too? I’ll go round some up!” And rushed off to get us our own chorus of singers. This is, however, when the brawl ensued, so we had kinda written off the singing believing that they were way too busy to worry about us now. BUT- after they settled the couple’s argument, the wait staff came to our table and sang Happy Birthday to our 5-yr old and made her feel like she was a true princess. The evening turned out to be one of our most magical of the vacation. A 5 fork experience (except for the fight, but that wasn’t their fault so I am overlooking it)

Good food is what sets great amusement parks apart from their peers. Disney is no different, but you also have to watch out for the wide range of overpriced mediocre food available there. Epcot center has a few places that are legitimately excellent, some of the best non-miami food in the whole state of florida. Knoebels in PA also has great food.